Let's endeavour to begin at the beginning - though, time DID jump around a bit in this one.

Boys in the Montana cabin. Is it kind of weird that I almost prefer the log walls of the Montana cabin to the faded wallpaper of Bobby's house? Yes, yes it's wrong. Bad me.

And Bobby finally spills all the dirt on Roman. It IS about cattle...which is what I guessed when I put together the turducken and curing cancer. It makes sense to keep the lifestock healthy and docile. That's what we do! I also liked the fact that they stuck in that fake commercial to show that they were also going after vegetables (corn), because I WAS thinking "does that mean the vegetarians are safe?"

The email from Frank and the hints of Charlie were excellent. I love the fact that Frank had an automatic email alert for the boys. But right now I want to talk about the line "..they'll know where your car is..." Dean: "Baby?!" Because...well, it broke my heart...because, and bare with me here, because I know that I'm anthropomorphizing a car (but really, who doesn't in this fandom?)...this whole time I was thinking that Dean and Sam weren't driving Baby in order to keep themselves safe. It never occurred to me that they weren't driving her in order to keep her safe...not until Dean said that line just like he said it - like the big bads were about to attack the love of his life. And that's just heart-breaking.

Okay, enough of this - let's cut to Charlie.

Charlie is awesome. I must admit, that this is the first time that Supernatural has cast someone that I know better as a personality rather than an actor. The only thing I'd seen Felicia Day in was Doctor Horrible's Sing-a-Long Blog...other than that, I know her from being a huge geek personality on the internet...so, I must admit, it did take me a little out of the fantasy at first to see Felicia Day playing a geek...because, it was Felicia Day, not Charlie. But, before Felicia Day reads this and gets all upset, I have to say that that feeling didn't last that long...after a couple of scenes, I had forgotten and was just enjoying Charlie as a character.

And I did enjoy Charlie as a character. I think the Supernatural writers have finally figured out how to make a female character that its fanbase will enjoy - make her a lesbian. There we go. Absolutely no threat to be romantically linked to the boys...she's harmless, and awesome, and we can all enjoy her.

Her office looked a little like my brother's office. So, points to production for realism. Not that my brother has a Hermione figurine on his desk, but he does have several monitors and a half assembled desktop computer sitting in the corner (that he calls Frankenstein's Monster). Also, he may have a figurine on his desk, I just can't remember who it is. Anyhoo...my brother, though gainfully employed currently and not at all up to illegal stuff, was quite the hacker back in the day. (Back in the time of the movie Hackers...does anyone remember that movie? Angelina Jolie before she was famous?)

I'm getting way off track...basically, I'm saying that I was trained from an early age to find people who knew computers really well attractive. So, I really liked Charlie...she was awesome, and she just kept getting more awesome.

Because, yes, at first, I was worried about how the Winchesters could possibly get her on their side. But then she read the file that she hacked, and that was the first lock to that door.

I also love how we get to see the Winchesters arrive through the eyes of the person their sneaking up on, rather than through their eyes. As most of you may know (or not) I absolutely love Outsider POV, and in the minutes before the Winchesters reach Charlie, that's exactly what we get...and it's glorious.

I've skipped some stuff...hold on...I love how creepy Dick Roman is even through the eyes of someone who doesn't know he's a monster. I love the conversations between Charlie and her desk-mate. I love how Charlie's hero is Hermione...but now I'm getting ahead of myself again...

Dean and Sam are worried about Bobby turning vengeful spirit. It's interesting, delving into the mythology of ghosts more indepthly. We are getting to see HOW things happen, instead of just being given theories. When Dean was contemplating staying to protect John and Sam, Tess told him that eventually they'd die, and he'd go crazy and turn vengeful in their absence...in Bobby's case, he his "unfinished business" is likely tied to Dick Roman...and it seems getting revenge is his raison d'etre...which means that being in his presence causes a swell of vengefulness that may turn Bobby crazy. Interesting.

Okay, back to conversations in living rooms...I love Sam.

Oh alright...I love how Sam and Dean plead their case but they really do leave it up to Charlie about whether she helps or not. And I love the fact that Charlie volunteers.

I also love that for once the boys aren't the ones on the ground...I like seeing how they handle it. Dean, being the chivalrous guy that he is, criticizing them for staying safe in the van and sending in "the 90 pound girl." Also, is it wrong of me that I find it endearing that Dean thinks Charlie only weighs 90 pounds? Probably, on some level.

I actually liked the split screens. I think that's something that Supernatural has never done before - but correct me if I'm wrong.

Of course, Dean flirting with the guard was hilarious - especially with Sam stifling giggles. I especially love it because Dean's doing the full performance...he's smiling flirtatiously as he says the lines, even though he's just on the phone to Charlie.

Oh! But I skipped a great part - rewind...because the boys have ammunition on each other. Sam reads Harry Potter. :)

Now, part of me hates when they bring up Harry Potter in Supernatural - for the sole reason that every time they do, it makes my Demented'verse that much more non-canon-compliant...but another part of me loves the fact that Sam has read Harry Potter, or at least seen the movies...enough to know who Sirius Black and Voldemort are and who Hermione is and how awesome she is. :)

And of course, Bobby has snuck into the building. Oh Bobby.

Anyway, Charlie gets the emails and finds the info...and part of me was like "why are you looking at it at work! get out of there!" but faster computers, I guess. I think my brother is the same way and does a lot of stuff at work that he can't do with his home computers.

And here time jumps around on us in an awesome way...because we skip time to the point where it looks like the Winchesters missed the package and Charlie is trapped with Dick Roman before completing the necessary data-wipes. But nope! Clever Winchesters are clever...and we get to see Sam and Dean dressed up as airport personnel...and Charlie is very good at erasing data on not letting on that she knows her boss is a monster.

Also, the boys can apparently infiltrate an airport and build a borax IED in a little less than 2 hours.

We also get a little bit more leviathan mythology too...because we discover that they can't copy individuals exactly. Whatever Charlie has that allows her to be a computer genius isn't transferable to a leviathan clone...they can mimic, but they can't be exact replicas. There's a skill/knowledge loss that they can't figure out...which, I find interesting.

We also get to witness Bobby trying to keep it together and protect the girl...which he does do, only he doesn't know his own strength....

And how awesome were the Winchesters doing the whole tuck-and-roll through the shattered glass windows? Super awesome? Yes, that's what I thought.

Also, Dick Roman knows about Bobby now...so there goes that element of surprise...but I did like the fact that he called them both monsters. I mean, it's a horrible thing to say about Bobby, but it's true...and it makes me wonder whether there are ghosts in purgatory...that'd suck.

Sidenote: I am super jealous that Felicia Day got to be carried by Sam.

And we also get an awesome end, with Charlie casually mentioning that this isn't the first time that she's had to move and come up with a new identity. Also, when she shakes their hands, it's like.. Charlie offers her hand, Winchesters both ENGULF HER HAND IN HUGE MAN HANDS! Seriously, was closely...they are both have gigantor hands in comparison to hers.

And Charlie LIVES! YAY! That means that she could reasonably come back...though, if she comes back, that ups the chances of her dying...and she DID make them promise never to contact her again. Plus, she's probably very good at hiding, so the odds that they'd be able to find her are slim anyway...but still, I'm happy that she's still alive. I really liked her. She was awesome.

Finally, the talk while Bobby isn't around. What do you do with a ghost of a friend who will eventually turn vengeful? And might be turning vengeful sooner rather than later? What do you do with someone who is losing their mind, but won't admit that they're losing their mind?

I believe this is the first episode that Johnny MacCarthy directed. I think he did a great job, especially for an episode that is 1)mythology heavy, 2)has time-jumps and reveals, 3)has Cyrano de Bergerac type phone conversations.

Anyway, yeah...good episode, you guys. I will say though, that I do think the pacing has been a bit off this season...it feels like we might be building to a run of mythology intense final four-episodes...and it might have been a bit better to pace that out a little more evening over the year. So, there, there's a rare criticism from me.

Personally, I can't wait to rewatch this one. So I think it's a huge winner.

Let me know if I missed anything horribly important that you desperately want me opinion on!

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Comments

I thought the first thing your review would say would be APRIL!!!!! We got a canonical timeline confirmation!

You are so right about us getting Charlies POV on the boys. I love that we got some time to know her first as well, and then WHAM these two HUGE scary guys are there. Felicia commented in a couple of interviews that the scene mirrored how she felt a bit arriving on a set which she said was very testosterone fuelled.

And i liked the fact that Charlie? Well she's even more special than a Winchester, so special that she can't be cloned! In fact the ep did well at sketching that Charlie has this whole life, well if almost felt like she was a crossover from her own series (HINT HINT!)

And yes I too love the way they are taking things with Bobby. He's not Bobby the friendly ghost, he might becoming something they need to destroy.

And there so many pop culture references! I've just spent about 4 hours documenting them on the Wiki and it was such delicious fun!

I thought the first thing your review would say would be APRIL!!!!! We got a canonical timeline confirmation!

Holy crow!! You're right!! I was so distracted by awesome that I didn't even realize!

Not only do we get canonical timeline confirmation, but it matches up perfectly with my guess-work so far! YAY! :D

In fact the ep did well at sketching that Charlie has this whole life, well if almost felt like she was a crossover from her own series (HINT HINT!)

Hahaha! Yes! Seriously though, she's a fully fleshed out character and it makes her all the more awesome! It really is like meeting up with someone who is the hero of a different story - a story we haven't been following, but just as easily could.

I agree about the outsider POV and the split screen. It was an interesting direction to take the episode and it worked. Yes, Charlie Bradbury (I should have guessed what she revealed at the end of the episode with this name) was a great character. She worked well with the Winchesters, managed (with some help from Dean) to get through any obstacles and managed to royally screw over her creepy Leviathan boss. And man, the actor they chose to play Dick Roman does the smarmy and creepy dick thing really well although the turn of phrase became heavy handed with the "cannot replicate you" "she has that spark" etc. Not sure what point the writers wanted to drive home so repeatedly. I understood it the first time.

The potential for Bobby to turn into a vengeful spirit is an interesting take. He did seem to get some mojo when he was angry with Dick but will wait and see how it all plays out. But yes, the whole scheme is interesting but I am intrigued by the red clay and what it all means to the Leviathans. Cannot wait for that item to be deciphered.

The actor who plays Dick Roman is SO creepy! Hahaha...he really does do a fantastic job. But yeah, they were kind of hitting us over the head repeatedly with some of that dialogue, which is a bit unnecessary...so, I do hope that something comes of it, otherwise it was just pointless hitting over the head. :P

I'm also intrigued by the red clay...what is it? Is clay the Leviathan's undoing? Do they need to make a Golem?

I am very interested in how these next three episodes are going to pan out...

CHARLIEEEEE. Haha oh man, I think she's up there with Missouri as THE MOST AWESOME one off characters. Though I maintain that Missouri should have come back. BUT ANYWAY.

Charlie was wonderful. I love that the fact she was gay was not why she was there - you know, how often it's "this is token gay character, watch them be gay". It was mentioned and then that was it. And SHE HAD FRODO'S SWORD. (Yes I knew it was Frodo's off the bat.) And Hermione! And "the Eye of Sauron" and GEEEEEEEEK. And she was clever and awesome and eep! I love her.

(And I just looked Felicia Day up on wiki and a breif glance says SHE IS AWESOME and SUPER CLEVER and turned down a place at Juilliard and man, I need to watch more things with her in because girl crush. Just not Buffy. I have zero interest in Buffy. Urgh, vampires. Also, I want a Charlie icon. Can I have a Charlie icon?)

AND I WANT TO BE CARRIED BY SAM WINCHESTER.

I'm not a fan of the overarching plot (the Leviathans turning humans into cattle) partly because its not a character drivien plot. Which I think is why S1-5 appealed to me so much, because it was super character driven. (S6 doesn't count cos overarching-plot-wise it was a mess, in my opinion.) BUT BUT BUT there have been some terrific episodes. And this was one. \o/

I had the same reaction when Dean said "Baby?" in reference to Frank's email and stating where the Impala was hidden. The look on Dean's face just warms/breaks the heart and makes you miss her all the more.

I had never heard of Felicia Day before this episode, so I didn't know anything of or about her. I found her charming and perfect in this role. I immediately fell in love with her and her character. She was very well written. Also very happy she survived and would love to have her back somehow. It could be possible. You know, the boys travel all over so what would it be that they run into her sometime on a future caper. That would be awesome.

Man, yeah, I really miss the Impala. It really is like there's a character missing from the show. I am looking forward to an eventual reunion scene...I think Sam and Dean should both just hug her for several long minutes.

I'm glad that someone who didn't know Felicia Day thought she did a great job too! She was very much playing to type, as Felicia is a huge geek/nerd IRL...but she isn't Charlie, of course, and I thought she did a great job taking a character that is similar to her and still giving her a life of her own.

And yes, I'd love it if they would run into her again in the future. Of course, every time someone shows up on the show, there's the possibility of death - so part of me just wants to imagine Charlie having adventures on her own elsewhere. :)

"right now I want to talk about the line '..they'll know where your car is...' Dean: 'Baby?!'"-As soon as I saw that moment I knew it would be my favorite of the episode. And later there were a lot of awesome moments, but I still love it.

I really liked the episode, too. I'm looking forward to the last 3 episodes though I really have no clue what's going to happen. (I mean I have some ideas for some moments, but no major endings/resolutions...)

Something that made me tweak was Sam and Dean dressed up as baggage handlers at the airport. Especially Sam. Mostly because he looked absurd. :)

Hey, so is it conclusive at this point that the leviathans killed Frank? I'm unsure if he's just missing with a whole pile of blood, or if he's been legitimately eaten. If so, why didn't they copy him to gain the password to get into his harddrive? Then they wouldn't need the ingenious talent of a human hacker to get in the back way. Surely, pulling a password out of ones head is copy-able as opposed to the uncopy-able unique talents of Charlie? Hmmmmm....

You're totally right about the writers finally finding the right concoction of nonthreatening female power. Why haven't they injected the plot with millions of lesbians yet? Fangirls would stop foaming at the mouth in outrage of potential coupling. *snicker*

Why haven't they injected the plot with millions of lesbians yet? Fangirls would stop foaming at the mouth in outrage of potential coupling. *snicker*

Hahaha, not to mention that it'd just be awesomely hilarious.

And yeah, kind of a plot hole there. I mean, they can touch Bobby and have access to his whole past. They can possess and angel and know every alias that Dean and Sam ever used...but they don't think to copy Frank for the password? *rolls eyes*

Maybe they sent the lowest of leviathan lackies to kill Frank and they foolishly ate him and then thought "oh hey...maybe we should see what's on the computers...oh damn." :P

Hey youBut right now I want to talk about the line "..they'll know where your car is..." Dean: "Baby?!" Because...well, it broke my heart...because, and bare with me here, because I know that I'm anthropomorphizing a car (but really, who doesn't in this fandom?)...this whole time I was thinking that Dean and Sam weren't driving Baby in order to keep themselves safe. It never occurred to me that they weren't driving her in order to keep her safe...not until Dean said that line just like he said it - like the big bads were about to attack the love of his life. And that's just heart-breaking.

That is soooo true! I mean, that "Baby" made me kinda cry a bit inside, because it spoke of so much affection for the poor car, and so much longing for getting it back (and safe!) She's something special, and I need her back! (yes, I'm aware that it's a car, and I'm aware that it's not even a talking car)

And I did enjoy Charlie as a character. I think the Supernatural writers have finally figured out how to make a female character that its fanbase will enjoy - make her a lesbian. There we go. Absolutely no threat to be romantically linked to the boys...she's harmless, and awesome, and we can all enjoy her.

Hee, I liked Charlie as well. I don't know Felicia Day, so for me, it was just the right kind of person to play that character. And her being lesbian was a nice touch - which I enjoyed mostly for Dean having to talk her through flirting with a guy ;-) That was funny. I liked her attitude and I loved (!) that Dick Roman said that some people have a spark that could never be copied, and that he was so eager to find that spark and what it is and learn Charlie's spark to... dunno, get some spark for himself. It's very reassuring that some people, at least, cannot be copied.

Back in the time of the movie Hackers...does anyone remember that movie? Angelina Jolie before she was famous?

I sure do! I loved that movie, I kinda liked the male main-character. Who was it? (yeah.. I liked him but I don't know who played him. Bad... :-( ) Also, one of my best friends and some of my pals from the university where in LOVE with that movie. Though I personally think it was because of Angelina :-D

I liked a lot the thoughts about Bobby. And how they both want to have him stay with them and at the same time KNOW that it can't go well. I'm sure that it would be even more than just having to "bury" Bobby twice, it would also be the fact that if they got rid of his ghost without Bobby's consent, he'd leave that world while being pissed at them. I mean, that would suck, right? Knowing you send someone to their eternal non-existence while he's angry at them for doing it? Having to fight against him, because he just won't let go?

:-(

I like that dilemma. I also agree that it's a pity we got so FEW informations on the Levis during the season. But maybe we don't need more? THere's the clay now, which might have to do with the mythology, and if that's the key, I guess it's still plenty of time to get to the showdown in four episodes.

But yeah, it could've been different. Though fifth season, we HAD a lot more mythology and it didn't get it done right as well. We had the Mother of All, and it wasn't even a very creepy monster. Very disappointing for me...

Where ARE those Alphas, anyway? There must be some around, still.

So, back to this ep, it was fun. And I liked Charlie, and she survived, and she's smart, and I wish her all the best. And ... well, can't wait till next week!

I sure do! I loved that movie, I kinda liked the male main-character. Who was it? (yeah.. I liked him but I don't know who played him. Bad... :-( )

It was Johnny Lee Miller. He's going to be Sherlock Holmes in the upcoming American modern retelling, Elementary. Besides Hackers, he's probably best known for his role in Trainspotting.

I'm sure that it would be even more than just having to "bury" Bobby twice, it would also be the fact that if they got rid of his ghost without Bobby's consent, he'd leave that world while being pissed at them. I mean, that would suck, right? Knowing you send someone to their eternal non-existence while he's angry at them for doing it? Having to fight against him, because he just won't let go?

Very well said. I agree. That's the crux of the matter - when Bobby died, they were on good terms. It would suck if they were on bad terms with is ghost when they had to end him. It'd be heartbreaking, and not at all what the boys want their final memories to be.

But yeah, it could've been different. Though fifth season, we HAD a lot more mythology and it didn't get it done right as well.

Very true. They kind of did the same thing in the fifth season, where they had great potential for mythology arc, but then crammed it all in the last four episodes. :P

We had the Mother of All, and it wasn't even a very creepy monster. Very disappointing for me...

I think I'm the only one who liked what they did with the Mother of All. :P

Where ARE those Alphas, anyway? There must be some around, still.

True, there are a bunch of story lines that they could be picking up...but nope.